Senior guard Carlie Wagner of New Richland-H-E-G is congratulated by a teammate after setting a new single game Minnesota state tournament scoring record with 53 points, breaking her own old record of 50, to lead the Panthers to a 100-68 win over Pequot Lakes in the quarterfinals of the Girls Class AAA state basketball tournament at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis on Wednesday, March 19, 2014. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

The scoreboard shows the numbers after New Richland H-E-G senior guard Carlie Wagner (#3) set a new single game Minnesota state tournament scoring record against Pequot Lakes at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis on Wednesday March 19, 2014. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Gophers commit Carlie Wagner emerged from New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s locker room Wednesday to find dozens of reporters sticking cameras and recorders in her face.

“Whoa,” she said.

Wagner didn’t ask for the attention, but there was no escaping it after her state-tournament-record 53-point performance in NRHEG’s 100-68 victory over Pequot Lakes in a Class 2A girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal at Mariucci Arena.

The performance topped the previous record, a 50-point explosion from … Carlie Wagner. She dropped half-a-hundred in the Class 2A final a year ago to lead the Panthers to their first state championship.

“I honestly never thought I’d hit it again,” she said. “I thought it was a one-in-a-million thing that would happen once, but I just went out and played well and it happened again.”

It didn’t look like a record-breaking performance from the start. Wagner’s jump shot was off, forcing her to get to the basket and earn trips to the free-throw line for her points.

Yet despite the shooting struggles, the senior guard kept putting up shots. She finished the first half with 26 points.

“She’s programmed to take the first open look she can,” Panthers coach John Schultz said. “She’ll keep taking them until she hits them. That’s her instructions.”

Three other tournament records fell during the game: most points by a team (100), combined points (168) and three-pointers by a team (NRHEG’s 13).

NRHEG (29-0) needed every point from Wagner early in the game, as the defending state champion and No. 1 seed was pushed by Pequot Lakes (23-7). The Panthers led by just two near the end of the first half, meaning it was go-time for Wagner.

“When it’s a close game or we’re down, I want the ball,” she said. “Not to be the main scorer, but I just want the ball in my hands to make passes and just create opportunities.”

Wagner made 7 of 11 shots from the field in the final 17 minutes, proving the Patriots’ double teams to be ineffective. When she didn’t have a good shot, she was able to find an open teammate. Wagner tacked on seven assists and six rebounds to her stellar scoring showcase. She finished the game 17 of 34 shooting with six three-pointers.

Wagner said she’s not focused on point totals, just moving the Panthers closer to a second straight state title.

But NRHEG senior guard Jade Schultz, who will walk on for the Gophers next season, said she could easily see Wagner dropping 50 again this week.

“It’s Carlie; she can do whatever she wants,” Schultz said. “She can throw a half-court shot up … and she’ll just make it. She’ll bank it in. She makes whatever she wants.”

The next step in the Panthers’ title defense — the next Carlie Wagner show — is a semifinal contest Friday at Williams Arena, Wagner’s future home court.

“I’m really excited to play on that floor, because I’ll be spending the next four years on that floor,” she said. “I’m really excited to get over there.”

For the Gophers, who missed out on an NCAA tournament berth for the fifth year in a row, she can’t get there soon enough.

Jace has covered a slew of sports since he joined the Pioneer Press in May 2015, but his primary duty is covering high schools. Jace enjoys the beat, even though he's been mistaken for a student on multiple occasions.

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in Sports

It was clear early on that the Gophers women’s basketball team was in for a physical game against Army. Minnesota didn’t seem to mind all the hands, elbows and hips directed its way — the Gophers play in the Big Ten, after all — and earned a 70-52 victory over the Black Knights on Thursday night at Williams Arena. “I...

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors pushed aside the Minnesota Timberwolves — again. With Toronto down 95-94 with 8:46 left, DeRozan and Lowry keyed a 17-4 Raptors run that took the game away from the youthful Timberwolves. Toronto eventually pulled out a 124-110 victory, handing Minnesota its 13th straight loss at Air Canada Centre. “We just...

Members of the Missouri Tigers volleyball team are ready to have about 5,500 people rooting against them Friday night at 7:15 p.m. when they take on Minnesota’s Golden Gophers in the first round of the NCAA volleyball Minneapolis regional. “We’ve competed against a Big Ten team (Purdue, whom 27-5 Missouri defeated to advance to the regional semifinal) and that wasn’t a...

Unafraid of introducing his players to advanced statistics, Gophers coach Richard Pitino routinely tells his squad where they stand among college basketball’s top teams in stats not included in a box score. He prints out charts that combine traditional and advanced statistics, discusses them with players at practice and has an assistant track them during games to help with adjustments....

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was optimistic punt returner Marcus Sherels will be able to play Sunday at Jacksonville, which would be a boost to a special-teams unit that struggled in several phases in last week’s loss to Dallas. Sherels has missed three of the past four games because of injury, including the previous two. Adam Thielen and Cordarrelle Patterson assumed...

When Mat Robson visited the University of Minnesota last month, he knew it was for him. Bright lights. Big city. Elite players. In Minneapolis, the 20-year-old saw a place similar to his hometown, and a chance to play goalie in front of 10,000 fans at Mariucci Arena. “The first and most important thing was going to a great program,” said...